Even romance needs to goes to school
by Lord Cynic
Summary: Not a sequel to Sparring. Set over a day of school, the main focus is not the lessons of the day but the romance between two students. However, not all goes to plan... We're home, people! LanMaylu MegamanRoll
1. Morning

**Lord Cynic:** "Thank the Lord, I'm finally back! Please forgive the pun, if that's what it is. I'm so terribly sorry this took so long. I got my Internet back after over 2 weeks, only to find Fanfiction's on the fritz. Don't worry, I'm sure this fanfic will quench the thirst of some who've been waiting for another Lan/Maylu fanfic from me. This will focus solely on those two, but maybe I can scramble another fanfic featuring Megaman and Roll before February 14th. If not, or if I get it done on the day, you'll have two more to look for. Enjoy!"

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**Lord Cynic:** "I don't own Megaman. I finally figured out how to spell Maysa though... albeit that being the anime version. Blah."

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**Even romance needs to go to school**

**Chapter 1: Consequences of a bad habit**

The time, 8:30am. The date, Wednesday the 19th of April. The year, 2000X. The location, Dentech Academy in Dentech City; the school where forbidden Netbattles are held after school in the study hall and where Dentech City's #1 saviour against World 3 was educated.

Not for the first time, Lan Hikari was late for the beginning of class. Not for the first time, the teacher of class 5-A, Ms. Mari, was irate at the tardiness of the blue headband-wearing boy.

"I swear, that boy's taken the term "late" and brought it to new depths," she said irritably. "Does anyone know where Lan is today?"

Her students shrugged and shook their heads, and the defeated teacher sighed heavily. She scanned the room quickly and her eyes fell on the seat beside Lan and his childhood friend occupying it. The redheaded girl in the chair stared at Ms. Mari blankly, wondering why she was interrogating her with her eyes. However, she kept silent and Ms. Mari guessing for Lord knows how long.

The rest of the class watched the silent exchange between teacher and student intently, as if they were waiting for someone to crack and submit. However, it was clear that the staring contest wasn't likely to come to a conclusion anytime soon. Eventually, an impatient blonde girl decided enough was enough.

"If no one minds," she called out in a high-pitched, pretentious voice, "I'd appreciate it if you'd begin the lesson, Ms. Mari. It's plainly obvious that Maylu doesn't know where Lan is, even if she does live next door to him and watch him get ready for school every morning." The girl folded her arms as everyone's eyes widened and the poor Maylu's face flushed with crimson. "I wouldn't be surprised if she sat at the window of her room, recording Lan's morning rituals of disgruntled snores, followed by sudden yelps, ending with loud thuds that accompany his abrupt descent from bed to floor. Now please, can we start the lesson? I need my education."

The stunned silence that ensued from the blonde girl's forcefully calm outburst was extraordinary. If a pin, a pen or a heavy book were to land on someone's foot, you would not get a reaction until time stopped freezing over in the classroom. In fact, no one but the blonde girl (unaffected by her own words, of course) noticed a panting, PET-holding, headband-wearing boy enter the classroom. After he closed the door behind him, the first thing he saw was that almost everyone's faces were fixed with satellite-dish eyes, gaping mouths and the odd sweatdrop.

"Oh no!" the boy cried. "Time's stopped and everyone's been frozen! What'll we do, Megaman?"

"Don't be stupid, Lan," his navi scolded. "The clock's still ticking, and Yai's moving."

"Oh." The boy checked the first of his navi's facts, and he sweatdropped heavily. "8:40... um... hello, Yai," he greeted the blonde girl quietly.

"Hello, Lan," Yai replied coolly. "Glad you could finally make it. I didn't think you'd be here today, or at least this late."

"Yeah, well, um," Lan stuttered nervously. "You see, I... I got sidetracked..."

"Yes, sidetracked," muttered Megaman sarcastically. "You got 'sidetracked' trying to take a shortcut through the park, then got lost walking in circles."

"Thanks for your support, Megaman," Lan said, slits for eyes on his face. "Glad to know I can count on you to back me up."

"How about this?" Megaman suggested irritably. "Hurry to your seat before you get caught, and I'll forgot about a certain poem for a certain person you thought I didn't see in your files."

"Don't you dare!" Lan warned threateningly, although blood was gradually rising to the flustered boy's face.

"What poem?" Yai enquired, perking up with curiosity.

"It's nothing," Lan answered hurriedly, rushing to his seat.

Naturally, Lan's eagerness to avoid the subject peaked the blonde girl's interest. His dismissiveness left her pondering, and her ponders usually become theories that are usually correct. She didn't comment any further, but she wore an all-knowing expression that only Glide and herself could interpret.

Lan meanwhile had scrambled to his seat and was unhitching his backpack from his shoulders. He placed the bag cautiously under his desk, and ignoring Megaman's non-verbal scolding starting impersonating a punctual student waiting for the lesson to begin. As oblivious as he was, he didn't notice that Maylu's face was still dark red from what Yai had suggested earlier. All he was worrying about was making sure Ms. Mari didn't catch him out.

He had just settled into his act when the disturbing time pause lost its effect. As soon as he started looking remotely interesting in school everyone had snapped out of their still states. Lan froze in his seat, hoping no one would detect his presence as they shook off their confusion. Thankfully, the perfect distraction would give him time to gather his things, ready for class. He still hadn't noticed Maylu's reddened complexion, nor her preoccupation and intense fascination with his desk.

Somewhere, someone, most probably Dex, hollered in anguished and leapt out of his seat, his right foot throbbing in agonising pain. Thoughts for Dex immediately turned to the time he got bitten by a robotic dog and cat. Lan still gave him cheek about this from time to time, but being the more 'mature' male he'd forgotten completely about it - eventually. Now that was all he thought about as he hopped painfully on the spot, to the immense amusement of everyone else. An encyclopaedia on Netbattle tips lay in feigned innocence on the floor next to Dex's desk, thus the source of affliction. Unfortunately for him, he didn't think that no one but a certain vertically challenged, blonde, wealthy girl would carry such a book around. Only one thought ran through his mind: "Oh, the pain!!!"

Ah, the wonders (and consequences) of tampering with the course of time.

Yai shook her head again, an evil smirk on her face as Dex continued hopping and clutching his suffering limb. However, she noticed that Lan and Maylu weren't participating in the mocking of Dex's torment. She thought this slightly suspicious, as from her brief experiences as part of the quartet of friends she already knew that the other three never passed up a chance to laugh at each other's misfortunes.

She remembered something Maylu told her about, involving Mr. Match and Torchman, and the results of his Megaman attention seeking. Maylu's hair hadn't looked its usual straight self for weeks as a result of Mr. Match's antics, Yai was told, and this was the course of great laughs for Lan and Dex. This had upset Maylu dearly, for she went to great lengths to make sure her hair was perfect. It was just wrong place at the wrong time when Torchman messed up Maylu's session at the beauty salon. Indeed, it was great trust and friendship that allowed Maylu to even build up the courage to tell Yai about the mishap, especially the parts about Lan and Dex laughing at her misfortune.

(A.N. - "_The episode I refer to is "Hot Tempers". Strangely, Cartoon Network showed that episode after "Game Off" - a time when Yai had already been introduced. In "Hot Tempers" though, Yai isn't in the episode. I've even taped the episode (as well as every episode before it... coughsuckupcough...) and after three replays I came to the conclusion that either Yai was on a vacation, or Cartoon Network stuffed up the order of the episodes. On a side note, the episode's a perfect Megaman/Roll indicator, although as a Lan/Maylu hinter it would leave a lot to desire. However, as Roll says, "Arguing is healthy. It means it's a close relationship._" (smirk))

'In fact,' Yai thought, 'she was more upset about Lan making fun of her hair than about Roll almost getting deleted by Torchman. She sure has her priorities straight. Lan can be such an insensitive clod sometimes; it makes me wonder why Maylu has a crush on him like she does. Poor Dex, he's too infatuated with her to realise she has feelings for someone else. Oh well, he's too blind to see a wall five metres in front of his face... although not as blind as Lan to realise that his childhood friend actually likes him, maybe even lo -'

Her train of thought was lost when she discovered everyone had fallen silent. She looked up from her thinking to find Ms. Mari with her hands on her hips, glaring at the class. This seemed to cease the contagious giggling that resulted from Dex's little 'accident' (although Yai knew otherwise), so now all eyes were to the front of the classroom. For the meantime, no one who was caught in the frozen time was aware of the extremely belated of Lan. His luck seemed to be holding up.

Satisfied that everyone was finally paying attention, Ms. Mari proceeded with the lesson at last. She walked up to the blackboard and began scribbling notes as everyone struggled to avoid eye contact with an agitated Dex. They still hadn't realised Lan's presence, but instead were getting uncomfortable with the extremely smug look on Yai's face. She couldn't care less, as she was concocting certain matchmaking schemes. The only hitches she could perceive were Lan's obliviousness, Maylu's naivety and Dex's jealousy. Still, she'd work out the bugs and glitches when her plan was set in motion.

When ten minutes had passed, Ms. Mari had completed her notes on elemental battlechips and navis; and strengths and weaknesses. When the last note was finished, she turned back to the class. Her eyes scanned the room with a "Get writing" expression on her face. She, like everyone else, hadn't spotted her newest, although extremely tardy arrival to the class. However, for a brief second her gaze fell on Maylu again, as if she was daring for a rematch of the staring contest.

Most of the other students had long fallen asleep, but a sharp clearing of the throat from Ms. Mari woke them up from their mid-morning naps and sent them straight to work. This included Lan, who was grateful for any source of distraction from his attendance. He bent his head down and began writing the notes in his notebook, completely ignorant of anything else around him.

This was good news for Maylu, if she'd known the person she was doodling idly was sitting right next to her. As it was, her work was as discreet as possible, although it did involve a lot of bright colours (particularly red and pink) and love hearts. There were (very detailed) drawings of her and Lan, with tiny letters scribbled above their heads. Roll gazed up from her PET to glimpse the words the letters spelled and she almost burst out giggling.

"That's cute," she said instead, holding back the urge to giggle uncontrollably. "Lan and Maylu Hikari, very cute."

"Roll, shh!" Maylu whispered urgently. "Don't let anyone hear you, this is supposed to be secret business."

"Of course," Roll said brightly. "Just like the other seventeen secret businesses. I'm gonna go visit Megaman, later."

And just like that, Roll was gone before Maylu could get another word in. If there was a more extreme version of crimson, Maylu's face was shaded in it from top to bottom. She shook this off as best as she could, then continued with her drawing, albeit slightly absent-minded.

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"Hey ya Megaman, how's it goin'?"

Megaman almost fell off his bed in shock. After he'd managed to compose himself, he tilted his head up to see Roll beaming down on him. The blue navi's face went an immediate magenta, but he sat up hurriedly to try and hide it.

"Oh, Roll! Er, I'm all right. How about you?"

"Never better," Roll said, beaming wider. "Whatcha doin' by yourself?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Megaman said. "How'd you know I was here?"

"Well, wherever Lan is, you're sure to be with him," Roll said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I didn't think anyone knew Lan was even here, besides Yai..." Megaman trailed off when a lightbulb registered in his brain. "Glide told you Lan was here, didn't he?"

"You got it in one," Roll said, pleased at Megaman's deduction skills. "Now you can tell me what you're really doing."

"Nothing to worry your pretty little head about," Megaman replied all too quickly. Roll raised an eyebrow questioningly, and the blue navi decided to elaborate. "It's something secret. Hush-hush, even."

Roll pouted. "C'mon, you can tell me. Pweeeeeease? I'll be your best friend!"

Now it was Megaman's term to raise an eyebrow. "I thought I already was. I'd need more of an incentive than just that."

Roll huffed and turned her back to Megaman. However, he simply smiled knowing that Roll was just being playfully angry. He yawned, stretched and made to lie back down onto his bed. Suddenly, he was taken back when Roll turned back around promptly and planted a light kiss on his cheek.

The kiss had exactly the effect what Roll was aiming for. Megaman went absolutely rigid in his sprawled position on the bed. His eyes were wider than dinner plates and he stared at Roll incredulously through a face covered in pink tinges. The only reply he received was giggling and a feigned expression of innocence from Roll.

"Is that a good enough incentive?" she asked, watching Megaman's face intently. This caused a plague of red tinges on Megaman's face, until the whole of his face looked like it had been sunburnt by Torchman. Roll giggled again. "I take it that's a yes?"

Megaman eventually recovered from his shock, and when he looked at Roll without the gaping fish expression on his face he wore a sneaky smile that surprised the pink navi.

"I'm not totally sure," he said coyly. "Maybe just a teensy bit more then I can make a decision."

"Oh, why didn't you just ask?" Roll asked exasperatedly, and she caught Megaman in a deep and passionate kiss that caught even him off-guard. Megaman definitely hadn't expected something so powerful from Roll, and it showed when they separated and she saw the look of utter bewilderment on his face. "If that isn't incentive enough to tell me, I give up."

"N-Nope," Megaman stuttered, swaying on the spot after that very distinctive step upwards in their friendship. "That's more than enough..."

"So..."

"Okay, okay, but promise you won't tell anyone about this, especially Lan and Maylu," Megaman pleaded. Roll nodded with a look of intrigue on her face, and she watched as Megaman opened up a suspicious-looking file from one of Lan's extracurricular folders.

"I never knew Lan would have something like that," Roll commented, marvelling on the realisation that Lan didn't just spend his time Netbattling, eating, sleeping and going to school. Indeed, she was surprised at any thought of Lan taking time out for secret projects, but said nothing as Megaman scanned the file so that they could read it.

"It's a... poem," Megaman said tentatively. He coughed briefly, but caught the look on Roll's face and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Lan being a poet, it's like Dex being a professor. However, Lan only ever writes about certain things... or people... getting what I mean?"

"Huh?" Roll was confused (for once), but Megaman gazed at her meaningly and she immediately caught on. "Ohhhhh, I gotcha. So, Maylu isn't the only one smitten about her childhood friend..."

"What do you mean?" Megaman asked. Roll pointed upwards at Maylu's drawing on her dreamworld. Megaman took one prolonged look at it, then turned around and switched on the mouthguard of his helmet. Unfortunately for him, even through his mouthguard Roll could hear the laughter of the blue navi, and she promptly battered him over the head with a cyber mallet.

"It isn't funny!" she scolded as Megaman gingerly rubbed his head. "She's become almost engrossed with her increased crush, it's almost impossible. Of course, she denies it about 25 times a day, but that charade gets old after about the 8th time."

"Tell me about it," Megaman groaned after the bump protruding through the top of his helmet soothed. "This is just one of the 30 poems in the past week Lan's written about Maylu. He spends more time writing poetry than doing homework, which becomes tiresome after a while when I'm left to save him from failing."

Roll looked up at the file that was sitting in midair while the navis were talking. She soon realised it was the poem Megaman was talking about and read it curiously.

Strawberry Locks

I gaze at her long strawberry locks

As the time slowly ticks by on an eternal clock

Her flowing hair is like a river

When it falls over my face it sends a flurry of shivers

Her hair is as shiny as a car sparkling clean

The strawberry locks are the loveliest I've ever seen.

Her hair is just one of the things that I adore,

And when it comes to Maylu there's plenty more.

"Wow," was all that Roll said after a long silence.

"Yeah," Megaman agreed. "If only he spent as much effort doing his homework. I guess, as he puts it in another poem, his feelings for Maylu are a powerful force, twice as fierce as any electronic horse."

Roll was about to comment on this when the navis heard shouting from the classroom. Roll bid Megaman goodbye, but before she disappeared to Maylu's PET she blew a kiss to the blue navi. He blushed lightly, but caught it in his hand, blew another into an imaginary paper airplane and flew it to Roll. She caught it, giggling, and teleported back to Maylu's PET.

Megaman watched her go, then looked up to see what the shouting was about. He sweatdropped heavily as he watched events unfold.

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"Lan Hikari! How nice of you to join us at last!"

Every student in the class jumped when Ms. Mari exclaimed while walking up to Lan's desk. The boy stared at the teacher blankly, trying to fix a calm and controlled expression on his face.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently. "I've always been here."

"Not according to my recollection!" Lan winced as Ms. Mari's eyes narrowed. "I happen to know that you arrived here 40 minutes AFTER the bell!"

"W-What?! How?!" Lan swerved his chair around to try and find the culprit. Eventually his eyes fell upon Yai, who simply smirked back at him. 'I'm going to get her for this,' he swore private, then turned back around to Ms. Mari. He figured it was best to be honest, and said, "Okay, so maybe I was a little late. But from the look of the class when I came in, I didn't really miss much, did I?"

This took Ms. Mari aback, but she regained her composure. There was no way she'd lose a battle of wits to her one of her own students. The only problem was, she had nothing to come back with. Except...

"After school detention!" she said with finality. It had the effect she was looking for when Lan's eyes widened in horror.

"What? You're kidding me!"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

Lan sighed heavily, but Ms. Mari was far from done. Her glare switched from Lan to Maylu, who shrank back in fear. The redhead didn't know what she had done, but she knew the consequences wouldn't be pleasant.

"You sit right next to him, yet you don't even see him enter the room," Ms. Mari said, her eyes boring through Maylu's already thin defences. "You can join him after school just for that."

"W-What?!" Maylu stared at Ms. Mari in disbelief. "B-But -"

"No buts," Ms. Mari said firmly. "After school, both of you."

The rest of the class sniggered, but Ms. Mari fixed them with glares and they were instantly silenced. Lan tried his best to look away from Maylu, who was feeling extremely hurt that she got in trouble for something that wasn't her fault. It was lucky that Lan was looking anywhere but at her, because at that moment her look of fury could definitely kill any unfortunate victim.

The bell rang for recess, and the class gradually filed out of the room. When the dust had settled, all that remained were the two kids that were caught in a nightmare. Lan would've left the classroom if he could, but as he was seated next to the window he couldn't squeeze out. Unfortunately for him, Maylu didn't look like leaving her seat anytime soon as her emotions boiled inside her. She still couldn't comprehend what just happened, and especially why Ms. Mari was so spiteful in dishing out the punishment. However, one thing she did know was that if Lan hadn't come late, she wouldn't be stuck being kept after school and missing a vital piano lesson.

When Maylu did rise from her seat, she was completely silent. Roll looked up at her worriedly, but nothing could provoke a response from the distraught redhead. Maylu walked to the door without saying a word, but before she opened it she whipped around and sent a death glare at the trembling Lan. She definitely didn't need words to tell him how she felt about this, but she didn't stick around for a reaction as she stomped out of the classroom.

Lan was rooted to his chair, the effects of Maylu's glare scorching him like red-hot coals. The look of pure anger in her expression was unlike anything he'd ever seen from her before, and it frightened him. No, more than frightened, downright freaked him out. She had never shown such a display of fury before, even if it was silent. The last thing she was this furious, which was when Lan had laughed at her hair, it cost the boy his homework.

Now, it looked as if Lan's lack of punctuality would cost him a friendship with someone so dear to him.

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**Lord Cynic:** "Eh... started off intending to be comedy, turned out to be a little dramatic. I'm still typing chapter two as I speak, so hang on tight folks. Lord Cynic, logging out!"


	2. Late morning to afternoon

**Lord Cynic:** "Greetings, humans!... sorry. I've been taking in comments from my first Megaman fanfic. I must say, I didn't expect such a wide spectrum of reviews. Nonetheless, I'm grateful to everyone for their time and suggestions.

Before I go on, the wisest thing to do is to somewhat reply to what people said about "Sparring and matchmaking can mix."

First off, I know the dream sequence is tacky. Heck, it's been done to death so many times yet is resurrected even more. I apologise if anyone thought it looked or sounded stupid, but I don't apologise for incorporating it into the fanfic. I am a self-confessed king of clichés, and the dream sequence seemed like the perfect cliche to use. (_End half-sarcasm_). Seriously though, I needed something that would make Lan think about what would happen if he pushed aside his feelings as if they didn't matter. Unless you think it's better if Megaman and Roll played out some sort of vision to Lan dressed as him and Maylu, I think that's the only way I could do it. I apologise if this sounds like I'm going back on my "comments and criticism's all cool" motto. I just want to clear my name on that aspect of the fanfic.

Second of all... actually, nope, that's the only 'criticism' I got (although it's justified). All righty, that's enough of my rambling on the first story.

As for this story, it is not a sequel. I don't write this as a series like my Golden Sun fanfics, they are all separate from each other. I just thought I'd clear that up."

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**Lord Cynic: **"Now, as for reviewers, here are your replies." 

**"Midnight Critic"**

_I'm glad you're satisfied with how this is going so far. No, to my knowledge Ms. Mari isn't trying to play matchmaking. She was just miffed at Lan for being late and trying to catch her out. Like I said before, "School" is separate from "Sparring". Neither is a sequel to the other._

_As for the typo, the way I intended neither of us got it right. Whoops!... I should really use a thesaurus next time. I guess the only thing to do is to edit the chapter. Bleh..._

**review lord**

Yo, thanks for the rave reviews in "Sparring". Yeah, I think she does need to constantly do that. But don't ask me, they're in control of their own fates. You can shoot the sheriff, but don't shoot the deputy!... moving on... If you haven't seen NT Warriors and the episode I referred to, I guess it's understandable that you haven't seen Maylu really, really, really... angry... shudder...

**"A fan of megaman"**

_Ah, yes... well, they'll just have cameos in this from now on. They won't involve themselves in their NetOps' situations, just talk amongst themselves about what's going on between Lan and Maylu. If I can get this fanfic finished soon enough (it's intended for a three-shot, no more, no less), I can do maybe a one-shot of Megaman and Roll. I have played Megaman Battlechip Challenge. Great game, great anime shots during "Slot in" sequences. Fill me in on the couple you're thinking of, I'm listening..._

**"Esty-chan"**

_Heh, thanks for the punctuality. I got the story in while Fanfiction's servers were on the fritz. Darn thing wouldn't let me edit... not the case now... muwahahahahaha... okay, I'm done._

**"Shadow Dark-Blade"**

_Heh, yours was the last before the update. ... Congrats?_

******Michael Bulaich"**

_Strangely enough, this was the same review you gave me for "Sparring"... hmm..._

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**Chapter 2: Late morning - Afternoon: Mind games**

Recess in the playground was a quiet affair for the quartet of Netbattling and World 3 fighting friends. They were eating under the same old tree, but it still appeared like Lan was alienated from the rest of his companions. None of the others were speaking to him, so it pretty much felt like he was alone under the large oak tree. He had tried to spark some conversation, but the hostile silence from his friends signalled that he was only talking to himself. In the end he remained silent, quietly chewing on his sandwich as he contemplated the catastrophe of the morning.

It had taken Lan a long time to comprehend the antagonism from Dex and Yai. It didn't take a genius to know why Maylu wasn't speaking to him, but he was hoping for at least some support from someone. He initially guessed Maylu's anger rubbed off on those two, then it hit him: Dex and Yai were both indirectly affected by Maylu's punishment in their own ways.

Dex's reasons for his contempt for Lan were rather obvious: his crush on the redhead (almost as intense as Lan's) meant he became overprotective of her. If Maylu was in trouble or received unjust treatment, Dex would deal with the culprit the way he always did: fist first, questions later. Lan thanked the stars that he was Dex's friend or he would've received a shiny fist long ago.

Yai's reasons for ignoring Lan were based more on loyalty to her best friend. Girls stick together like insects to flypaper, and Yai was always on Maylu's side no matter what. The girls were their only sources of feminine and emotional support to each other, so naturally Yai agreed with Maylu that what happened was Lan's fault. It took all of her self-control not to just give Lan was a sharp whip on the head to make him choke on his sandwich. She knew that if anyone were to inflict bodily harm on the boy, it would have to be Maylu.

Maylu on the other hand understood Lan better than anyone. She had been his best friend for many years, and living next door to him gave her insight into aspects of his character that no one else knew. Physical pain wouldn't be enough to teach Lan a lesson. Everyone heals from physical wounds eventually, but psychological suffering was the key if you wanted someone to truly regret their actions. She didn't hate Lan, none of them did, but still it didn't keep her from wanting Lan to understand how she felt about her unfair punishment.

She took a crumpled-up piece of paper out of her pocket and smoothed it out. It was the picture she was drawing before Ms. Mari caught Lan, about her and Lan. She began to wonder if it was wrong to imagine a world like the one the paper versions of her and her crush seemed to live in. It seemed too perfect, too magical, too... unrealistic. If pictures are worth a thousand words, then that one picture could tell Lan everything she ever felt for him. However, not even someone as dense as that boy could understand something so obvious if it struck him on his thick head. She tried to show him how she felt so many times, but each and every time he looked away or changed the subject. It infuriated her so many times, that he could disregard something so important so easily. Nonetheless, she would always love him, no matter what...

However, first Lan was going to pay for her punishment. Maybe then he won't be so selfish and, most importantly, oblivious to other people's feelings.

Lan never felt so alone in his life. However, he thought it would be pointless to leave the others to their own bitter silence. They wouldn't want him to leave their sights, no matter how angry they were with him. He wished there was something he could do to change things and make everything better. Unfortunately, it didn't look like anyone would listen to him if he tried offering suggestions. He contemplated negotiating with Ms. Mari, but he wasn't clever enough to offer any proposals or deals in return for taking back Maylu's punishment.

Megaman was absent from Lan's PET, determined to force Lan to solve his problems for once. While the boy was partially grateful for the chance at independence, he really needed some advice. It would never come though, and Lan was resigned to his fate as the loner of the group.

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The end-of-recess rang a few minutes later, and Maylu was swiftly on her feet and walking back to the classroom before anyone had moved. Dex and Yai also made to walk back, but Lan remained seated against the tree. The former two glanced at each other, then Dex nodded as Yai resumed her walk towards the school building. 

Lan was staring at the ground, so he was oblivious to what was going on. Suddenly, he found himself hauled up by his collar and being dragged towards the classroom by Dex.

"H-Hey! What are you doing?" he asked between coughs as he was dragged along the grass.

"Just because we're not talking to you doesn't mean we want you to get into more trouble than you're in already in," Dex replied. "If you're late again, we'll get in trouble again. You don't want that, do you?"

Lan had his mouth open to reply, but the last sentence dropped on him like an atomic virus attack. He shut his mouth, then indicated to Dex that he could walk himself. Dex released him, and Lan trudged behind the bigger boy, wondering just was going to happen to him later.

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Lan was safely in the classroom with time to spare. As soon as he entered people stared him strangely, and it was obvious that the early morning's incident was still on everyone's minds. Some students wore expressions of bemusement, while others were still unimpressed after Lan got Maylu in trouble. Nonetheless, Lan glared at them all, until sincere faces looked in the direction of the front left corner of the classroom. He followed their gazes to his and Maylu's desks, where the redhead was sitting stiffy in her seat. Her head was tilted down to her desk, and her mouth was straighter than her school record.

The glare from Lan's face vanished instantly, and a look of sorrow replaced it. He received some sympathy glances, but he was more concerned about an alternate seating arrangement. He did not want to risk returning to his seat, where he was certain Maylu would just give him the cold shoulder for the rest of the day. He could take the silent contempt from Dex and Yai, but he didn't want to bear that sort of contempt from his best friend.

Lan's eyes scanned the rest of the classroom, desperate to find an empty seat. They eventually fell on a vacant desk in the back corner. It was situated right next to a window, and Lan was genuinely astonished that such a perfect spot remained occupied. It was as if he was the only one who saw it, but he shook the thought aside quickly.

He was halfway towards the desk when Maylu's voice called out in the silence. Lan froze on the spot as she spoke.

"Where are you going, Lan?"

Some students giggled as Lan stared at the now-smiling girl, who'd swivelled in her chair to face in his direction. He didn't quite understand the sudden change of expression, and he was almost certain it wasn't a good thing. He knew her grudges didn't disappear so soon and wondered if she had deleted his homework again like he did otherwise. Oh wait; he was holding his computer under his arm... never mind.

"I'm... I'm just finding a place to sit," he said hesitantly.

"Why?" Maylu asked innocently. "You sit next to me, remember?"

Students giggled and laughed again as Lan scratched the back of his embarrassedly.

"Oh, that's right."

Lan sheepishly made his way to his proper desk beside Maylu's. Ignoring the sniggers from his classmates he slid in cautiously next to her, doing his best to avoid eye contact with her. However, he needn't have worried; as soon as he seated himself, she returned to staring at the desk. She was trying to mess with his head, and it seemed to be working. He didn't know why she went from acting all pleasant to being hostile, and already it was freaked him out. He hoped she was on her way to forgiving him. Unfortunately, as long as school was in session Maylu wasn't going to be done anytime soon.

Finally, Ms. Mari arrived at the classroom to a crowd of expectant faces. However, it wasn't for the start of the lesson, but for the battle of mind games between Lan and Maylu. Ms. Mari realised this, and coolly said,

"Well, this little show has been mighty fascinating, but I do believe this is class time. Now, everyone turn to me so we can start. Thank you."

The students groaned quietly, having been pulled away from their source of entertainment. Lan and Maylu had other things on their mind, though, and their faces remained bent down at their desks. Ms. Mari was occupied with the blackboard, so she wouldn't notice the two not paying attention.

Lan felt absolutely horrible. His stomach was doing somersaults and 720-degree flips, and his mind was racing desperately. Maylu's bizarre mood swings were starting to take their toll on the boy already. What is she playing at? Is she still angry with him, or is it all behind her now? Is she trying to spite him or simply playing with him? It didn't make sense, and he felt he was running out of time.

Maylu was on the same frame of mind as Lan. She was just going to pull on his strings for a while, to see how he reacts. So far she'd manage to swap and switch between her anger and her normal cheery self to mess with Lan's head. Everything was going to plan, but there was still the last period of the day after lunch, then the detention. She wasn't done by a long time, no way.

She unfolded the picture she'd drawn earlier. Bright skies, smiling faces, seemingly perfect times for the Maylu and Lan in the picture. How distant fantasy can really be from reality...

**

* * *

**

Megaman and Roll sat at a Cyber cafe in the Net. Both were concerned about the way things were going between their NetOps and most of their conversation centred on the treatment of Lan by Maylu and the others.

"This is starting to get a little out of hand," Megaman said. Roll nodded with concern.

"Are you sure we shouldn't give them advice? Talk things over with them?" she asked. Megaman smiled.

"No, I think it's best they solve this issue by themselves. They'll be better for it."

"I hope you're right." Roll placed her head on her hand in thought, and Megaman slouched back in his seat.

'Yes, I hope I am right, otherwise this is the end of something that could've been much more...'

* * *

A few hours later, the bell rang for lunchtime. Everyone groaned tiredly and arose from their seats to depart from the room. Yai and Dex were among the last to leave for the cafeteria, but as they passed Maylu and Lan's desks they gave them both a fleeting look. However, they said nothing and quietly exited the room. 

Maylu glanced at Lan briefly, then arose and left for the cafeteria. He hesitated for a few seconds, then lifted himself out of his seat and followed with heavy steps.

**

* * *

**

Lunchtime in the cafeteria was another quiet affair. However, the different was that Lan had fenced himself off from his friends and found himself a solitary table to eat at. Despite the freedom but the hostility, plus protection from stone cold glares from his classmates, he still felt caged in, like his emotions at that point. He was usually capable of being independent, especially when virus busting or fighting World III, but this sort of 'independence' was enough to crumble a person. Lan liked being with his friends, so it hurt to be alone like this.

He stared down at his food, as if it was the most fascinating thing in his life, and absent-minded prodded it with his fork. His mind was still elsewhere, and for a few moments he wondered how he got to his situation. Then the events of the day cycled through his thoughts and his feelings of desertedness returned. He still didn't have Megaman with him, and became suspicious of the blue navi's absence. Then Megaman's words ran through his head: "It's up to you to work this out. You made this mess, now you have to make things right, or you'll lose Maylu forever."

Megaman's words spurred some motivation into the lost-looking, brown-haired, blue headband-wearing boy in the corner. Lan swerved in his seat to check whether anyone was watching him. Luckily, heads were either down and eating, or chatting to one another, so for once he wasn't on anyone's mind. Taking great care not to raise heads, he arose from his seat (and uneaten burger) and strode quietly to Ms. Mari's table.

It took Ms. Mari a while to notice a student requesting her attention. When she did, she stopped eating her salad so he could speak. Her interest was attracted when he spoke in a pleading tone.

"Please, Ms. Mari, don't punish Maylu for my mistakes. She doesn't deserve this."

Ms. Mari took this in briefly, then returned to her salad.

"I'm sorry, but the answer's no," she said shortly.

Lan stared at her incredulously, and desperately tried again.

"I don't want people treating me like a criminal. I can't take this anymore, especially when Maylu's an innocent victim. I'm sorry I was so late this morning, but it's no reason to involve Maylu in this. Just, keep her out of this, please."

Ms. Mari did not look up.

"I'm sorry, but the answer's still no. Don't be late next time, that's all I can say. It's sweet of you to think of Maylu though."

Lan didn't hear the last comment, as his mind was frozen in disbelief. However, he admitted defeat and traipsed back to his table. A few heads lifted as he ambled across the cafeteria, but Lan couldn't care whether or not he received empathetic or disapproving glances. He was completely engrossed with the possibility of losing his friends forever. Especially Maylu. What can he possible do to fix things and see her smile naturally again? Lord, he'd do just about anything to see that beautiful smile of hers, if only -

He mentally and physically halted himself right there. Did he just think that about his best friend? There were a few titters from the students, and Lan raised a hand to his cheek. Yowza, hot! His cheeks were burning hot from the prospect of possibly being in love.

Love... four innocents letters (**A.N:** "_Yeah, not words… thanks for the clear up, Shadow Dark-Blade__"_) that, when combined in that order, create an almighty force. A force that had crept up on Lan, and without his awareness blessed (or cursed) him with deep feelings for his best friend. It seemed so subtle and so sudden at the same time. And yet, it felt natural, as if it was a budding seed that was blooming majestically inside of him.

Sitting down at his table, he stole side-glances at Maylu, who was sitting on the other side of the cafeteria. Dex and Yai were talking animatedly to her, but she seemed to take no heed or pay no attention to their words. She appeared to be listening, but on closer inspection (as close as possible from his seat) Lan could see her mind was elsewhere. She may fool the other two, but he knew she was distracted. He knew here long enough to recognise the truth behind her disguises. He wasn't as dense as people thought... not much.

Lan suddenly became aware that he was now staring at Maylu. Fortunately, no one caught him, so his gaze returned safely to his burger covered in fork marks. Suddenly, as he stared at the punctured burger bun an idea clicked in his brain. He knew how to repair the damage he'd caused, and also hopefully tell Maylu how he felt about her. He just needed some help from his nowhere-in-sight navi. Where was Megaman when you needed him outside of World III trouble?

Just then the bell rang for the final session of the day. Lan groaned inaudibly and lifted himself from his seat. His stomach grumbled hungrily, but he couldn't comply with its needs at that moment. He needed some help from rescuing himself from his predicament, and there was only one navi to turn to. One navi to rule them all. Lan just hoped it wasn't too late...

* * *

**Lord Cynic**: "Eh... sorry if it sounds like Lan-bashing to some extent. I guess I might've gone overboard. Anyone else think so? Anyways, there's the next chapter. Kinda long-winded, but the finale will be next, focussed mainly on the detention. Dun dun dun... Lord Cynic, logging out." 


	3. Afternoon

**Lord Cynic:** "And here is the finale at last. Sorry for this being so short, but I'll offer a suggestion at the end of the fanfic. Now, with that out of the way let's get to reviews."

**

* * *

**

**"Shadow Dark-Blade"**

_I feel appreciated, especially as a Megaman novice (relatively). It took me a while to interpret the Japanese names, but a site called Absolute Anime helped me with that. _

_Thanks for the typo check. I guess I was in a hurry to type the rest of the chapter within 45 minutes... eh... _

**"Blue Bommer"**

_Erm... I guess that's a good thing?_

**"Midnight Critic"**

_Aww, okay, I fess. I study Psychology in my final year of school before University. Seriously. I think I'm focused in the right cerebral hemisphere... if you can understand that you know as much as I do. If not, well..._

_Once again I feel flattered you give so much praise for my work. I guess I can empathise with how Lan feels, so I can write accordingly. Poor bloke... still, it's not over yet. I'm in the upper echelon, yes! Two fanfics and I'm on top!... now only if my favourite sports teams could do that too..._

_Yeah, I get a few criticisms about the lack of chapters in my Megaman fanfics. Refer to the end about that._

**"A fan of megaman"**

_Oh, yes... Mary and Ring are extremely annoying with their Jealousy chip... still, a few rounds and they're toast. I'm neutral on Chaud/Anyone couplings, EXCEPT /Maylu and yaoi fanfics. I could try though... maybe Yai vs. Mary... muwahahahahaha!_

_Yes, I did ask if I did a bit too much 'Lan-bashing' in the last chapter... like I said, poor bloke. Eh... he'll get his babe in the end. Believe that, playa! Holla, holla, holla!_

**"Esty-chan"**

_If they can, you'll see Megaman and Roll a bit more in this chapter. Not too much, depending on how much they get past the security. It's a bit tight about here..._

_I'll take your request seriously, and try to shorten the syllables of the words I use. I like using big words; it's sort of a habit. However, I shall attempt to make things easier to understand. Maybe I should start now with this reply... Innocence is a virtue, but one that doesn't affect me. So..._

**

* * *

**

**Afternoon: It comes down to this**

Lan arrived at the classroom sooner than anyone else. He had to make sure that firstly, he remained as hidden as possible, and secondly that he'd have enough time to do what he hoped to do. It was just a matter of convincing Megaman that he needed his help.

"Megaman!" he whispered. "Megaman, where are you?"

Lan waited impatiently for the blue navi to appear. When he did, Lan breathed a sigh of relief, provoking Megaman to raise an eyebrow.

"I take it you can't do this on your own?" he asked. Lan became slightly irritated.

"I know what I have to do," he said. "I just need your help with something. Listen -"

Before he could finish, at that moment the rest of the class and Ms. Mari filed into the room. They were surprised to see Lan as the first inside, but their stares were firmly returned with a withering glare.

After receiving the glare, they merely mumbled quietly and sat at their desks. Last of all was Maylu, but when she shuffled into her seat Lan didn't even look up. She thought this unusual, but her attentions were switched as Ms. Mari started speaking to the class.

"All right, class," she began. "I know this is a little unorthodox, but now we're going to practise Netbattling."

The class gawked at her, but she continued casually.

"I know it sounds highly irregular," she explained. "However, after the World III attacks I thought student awareness was better than obeying simple school rules. Also, I want to see how you all work together. As such, I will be pairing people up to Netbattle against one another."

Students groaned quietly, but Ms. Mari ignored this as she started selecting partners.

"Natasha and Crystal, Tony and Josh, Tory and Christy..."

Tory Froid, a brown-haired boy who was the NetOp of Iceman and a friend of Lan and Co, glanced a few desks to his left to a brunette girl sitting not too far away. She giggled and winked at him, causing him to blush lightly.

"Steve and Connor, Randy and Rick, Hannah and Flora..."

Lan and Maylu weren't really paying attention to anything; let alone Ms. Mari, so they jumped when their names were called.

"... and that leaves Lan and Maylu. Any questions?"

Students looked at each other uneasily, and Lan and Maylu sat stunned on their seats. However, no one was willing to comment or object to Ms. Mari's choices, so she took the silence as a no.

"Okay, then. Pairs line up in front of the blackboard. Battles will be fought for at most five minutes. Now, who's first?"

"We'll go!" Dex boomed, and he and his battle partner (a timid blonde boy by the name of Andy) stepped up to the blackboard. The rest of the class lined up in pairs behind them, with Lan and Maylu bringing up the rear.

"All right, begin the batt -"

"Mouseman, logging out!" an electronic voice said. People stared bewilderedly as Andy yanked his PET out of its socket and retreated to his seat.

"Oh yeah, I am the man!" Dex hooted, pumping his fists in the air and almost taking a few unfortunate kids with him.

"Well, that was certainly fast," Ms. Mari remarked, smiling sheepishly. "Who's next?"

The battles proceeded rather smoothly, and they were much longer than the first speeding bullet 'battle'. There were only two exceptions: Yai's opponent (another blonde slightly taller than her, whose name was Tina) was forced to logout within 45 seconds with a well-timed HeroSword attack. Tory on the other hand couldn't concentrate for some reason when battling Christy. Iceman noticed this and logged out quickly before things could get messy.

Eventually, Lan and Maylu were the last pair to battle. Students watched, keen with anticipation as the Netbattlers approached the blackboard. In the heat of the excitement, everyone had forgotten about the events of the morning. Instead, their attention was now focused on the upcoming battle.

However, the Netbattlers themselves could not share the same enthusiasm. On the contrary, Lan and Maylu weren't looking too thrilled to fight each other. Their eyes did not meet each other's, and their navis seemed to pick up on this.

"Tell me what you want to do," Megaman whispered. Lan stared down at him emotionlessly.

"Let Roll hit you, then logout," he whispered back. The blue navi stared back at him curiously, but nodded understandingly.

"Do you want to go through with this?" Roll asked her NetOp. Maylu looked at her, then sighed and nodded.

"I must. I'm still mad at Lan, so this will soothe my anger," she reasoned.

"Okay, let's go!" Ms. Mari yelled, signalling the start of the battle.

"Megaman, jack in! Power up!"

"Roll, jack in! Power up!"

**

* * *

**

The navis teleported into the CPU of the blackboard at the same time. However, while Roll was preparing herself for the fight, Megaman was staring at the floor and kicking the dust data idly. He was thinking about Lan's instructions, and how best to make it appear that he was defeated.

"What's up?" Roll asked suddenly, causing Megaman to jump in shock.

"Oh, it's... it's nothing," Megaman said shortly. "Are you ready?"

Roll opened her mouth to speak, but a "Let the battle begin!" from Ms. Mari cut her short.

"Well, no choice now," she said jokingly, smiling. Megaman smiled back, then assumed his battle position.

'Let Roll win,' he kept telling himself. 'Let Roll win...'

"Roll blast!" the pink navi cried, knocking Megaman onto his back with her antennae. (I think)

"Oof!" Megaman wasn't badly hurt, but surprised by the strength of his navi friend. "Whoa..."

"Aqua Tower!" Roll shouted, and a torrent of water surged towards the blue navi.

From Roll's perspective, she knew he was agile enough to avoid the attack. When it hit him full force, she was shocked to watch him logout in midair.

"Megaman, logging out," an electronic voice said.

"... I can't believe it," Roll muttered softly, then she angrily logged out herself.

**

* * *

**

"I didn't expect that," Ms. Mari said as Lan pulled his PET out of the blackboard and slumped back into his seat.

The class was just as shocked at the result of the battle as the teacher. One half watched Lan talk to his PET like nothing happened, while the other half watched Maylu coldly withdraw her own PET from the blackboard and slip into her seat.

"Okay, well, that was great, class," Ms. Mari began again. "We all learned something from that experience, didn't we?"

The class mumbled yes's and uh huh's, and Ms. Mari returned to her regular lesson plan for the rest of the session before the end of school.

Satisfied over the results of the Netbattling, Lan resumed talking to Megaman.

"The thing is," he started, "I just need help ironing out a few things. Do you mind?"

"Well, I guess not," Megaman said rationally. "What do you have in mind?"

They discussed Lan's plan, unaware that a navi was streaming towards Megaman at incredible speeds.

**

* * *

**

Roll was still furious over the easiness of her victory over Megaman. She knew darn well that one Aqua Tower would never be enough to down him. Heck, he'd taken so much damage in fights against World III's agents that water would be like taking a cyber bath. So why did he surrender so easily?

"There he is," she muttered as she streamed through the Net. "Now for some answers."

* * *

"Well, that sounds all right to me," Megaman said as Lan finished explaining his plan. "I don't see anything I need to - AHH!" 

"What's wr - Roll!"

"Lan Hikari, is there a problem?" Ms. Mari asked, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at the boy. He smiled sheepishly.

"N-No problem," he said, then whispered, "Roll, just what ar - why are you strangling Megaman?"

**

* * *

**

"You threw away the battle! Why?" Roll hissed wringing Megaman by the neck. His cyber oxygen was quickly getting sapped so he struggled to reply.

"It... was... Lan... wanted... me... lose... please... stop..." he gasped. Roll frowned, then released her grip on the poor guy. He stumbled around, grasping precious air, then dropped to one knee. "Man... you're... rough..."

"You're lucky I'm not doing more," Roll said, remembering an incident that caused her to turn into "Empress" and almost destroy Megaman. (**A.N.:**_ "While I'm typing from here I've just watched "Evil Empress Roll" parts 1 and 2. Those episodes were kinda fun, and there were some good couplings moments. Heh heh..."_) She gained the minimum amount of satisfaction from the memory but checked herself.

"Okay... okay... I get it..." Megaman breathed, still catching some cyber O2. (**A.N.:** _"Second typo in two chapters... meh... thanks Midnight Critic."_) He climbed to his feet gingerly as Roll started rubbing the back of her head and blushing in embarrassment.

"Sorry about that," she said sheepishly. "I guess I forget my own strength at times."

"No big deal," Megaman said, smiling. "But why did you come in such... a rush?" he asked tentatively, trying to find the proper word to use.

"Oh, that," Roll said timidly. "I was just wondering why you threw the match just then. I know my attack was never going to be enough to defeat you, so what's the deal?"

"Who... who says it wasn't?" Megaman stuttered, hoping not to lure himself into a dead end. "Like you said, even you don't know your own strength sometimes."

"Well... okay," Roll said slowly. "If you're sure you didn't log out on purpose."

"I'm sure." However, not even Megaman could believe that. Nonetheless, Roll seemed to trust him and she logged out with some satisfaction, leaving the blue navi to ponder exactly what he just said.

"Are you okay, Megaman?" Lan asked from outside the PET.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm all right," Megaman said shortly. "So, what were we talking about?"

**

* * *

**

A few hours later, the bell rang for the conclusion of the school day, and everyone scrambled to escape the clutches of the education building once again. Everyone, that is, except for Ms. Mari, Lan and Maylu, who stayed behind to discuss the details.

"Okay, you two," Ms. Mari began, "your detentions will be for 15 minutes. They're usually 30 but today I'm feeling generous."

Lan and Maylu glanced at each other nervously due to the irony of Ms. Mari's statement. However, their better judgement prevented them from making any unnecessary comment. They nodded silently and took their regular seats.

"Now, I won't be supervising you, but the security system will make sure you stay here until the 15 minutes is up," Ms. Mari explained. "Have fun," she added as an afterthought, then she left the room.

Lan and Maylu stared after her in disbelief, but when they noticed what they were doing, they immediately gazed in different directions. Tension wasn't as high between them as it originally was, but they were still uneasy around each other.

Lan hoped that, if his plan succeeded, the tension would be lost forever, and in return, love would be gained. However, that's if everything went as smoothly as it should. For Lan, things had a tendency to mess up and as a result, he ended up in worse trouble than when he began. If he had his way though, this wouldn't be one of those times.

When he was certain Maylu was preoccupied, he started speaking to Megaman again.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I am. Want me to send the email now?"

"Sure. Remember to do what I told you too, as well," Lan said, frequently side glancing at Maylu to check if she was listening.

"Yeah, I know." Megaman vanished into the Net, and Lan sighed and slouched in his seat. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Maylu bent over a crumpled piece of paper, but he didn't dare bring it up. Instead, he waited to see if Megaman could complete his messenger navi job.

**

* * *

**

Maylu's picture was extremely crumpled and faded by now. Nonetheless, the bright faces of the people drawn on it continued to smile cheerfully from the page at Maylu. The words "Lan and Maylu Hikari" were starting to fade, but they were still clear enough to figuratively shout out at Maylu like taunts.

It seemed to have their desired effect on the redhead girl, whose sorrowful face could tell many a sad tale. She couldn't help it, but every time she made to throw away the picture, her body wouldn't allow it. It was as if her heart was communicating with her mind and telling the muscles not to let go of her dream, no matter how distant it seemed. In the end, she knew it was a sign, so she kept the picture in her pocket until she knew it either come true or end up in failure.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she received a message from Roll.

"Maylu," she whispered. "There's something coming."

"Huh?" Maylu snapped out of her daze and looked down at her PET. "Oh, er, let it through. It might be important."

Roll complied, but when she opened the email, a strange navi appeared.

"What th -" she began, but the navi held up a hand to stop her.

"Relax, fair and beautiful navi," he said suavely, making Roll blush in embarrassment. "I am simply here to pass on a message from my NetOp to yours, in the form of a poem. If I may be allowed to do so, I shall recite it now."

The navi cleared his throat, then letters started appearing on the screen on Maylu's PET. The letters combined into words, and Maylu's widened as lines took shape. The navi started reciting the poem as the lines fully appeared on the screen.

_My heart's beating faster than it has before _

_And I don't think I can hold it anymore _

_Your love and care is what I need _

_Love that will forever set my heart free _

_Until the day it can beat no longer _

_So let me tell you what's burning been inside _

_And all the feelings I could no longer hide _

_Kisses I could give, gentle and deep _

_Until the moon shines and together we fall asleep _

_Round the clock, day by day _

_Always will I feel this feelings yearn to say, _

_I love you, and my love will forever grow stronger._

Maylu was speechless, and her face showed it. Roll couldn't believe it either, and she stared up at Maylu with her eyes widened. Maylu simply stared back in disbelief, but that's when they noticed the navi preparing to disappear.

"Wait!" Roll called. "Who are you?"

The navi turned around just for a second, and a familiar symbol on his chest gleamed briefly. However, he turned his back to them almost as quickly.

"I think you know who we are," he said matter-of-factly. "My NetOp and me." He disappeared into the Net, leaving a very flustered pink navi and her NetOp to ponder.

"I... who could love me that much... to say all that?" Maylu asked. She seemed still in self-pitying denial.

"Well..." Roll pondered for a second. (**A.N.:** _"What am I doing? Roll already knows... oh well. Bear with me, please."_) Suddenly, she remembered the navi's symbol that flashed briefly before he vanished. "I... I think the navi was Megaman..."

"Megaman?... then that must mean..." Maylu glanced at Lan who seemed to be sleeping, still slouched in his seat. Her eyes sparkled with light tears, and all her feelings of hatred and resentment towards Lan disappeared instantly. They were replaced by overwhelming feels of gratitude and love that could only be expressed in one way.

**

* * *

**

"Zzzzzzzzz... gaaahhhh! I'm being attacked! Someone help, please! Help - Maylu!"

Lan calmed down to realise Maylu was hugging him tightly (or glomping if you use the anime term). Her cheeks were flushed red and a giant smile was on her face, which meant only one thing for Lan: It worked! But did that also mean...

"I love you too, Lan," Maylu sighed dreamily.

Well, there's his answer. Gently he lifted her chin so they were eye level with each other, and then he drew her in for a gentle kiss. He planned to release the kiss shortly afterwards, but Maylu didn't let him as she intensified the kiss. Soon their hearts melded into one as did their lips.

**

* * *

**

Megaman and Roll settled onto the floor of Megaman's PET as they watched the blossoming love between their NetOp.

"I knew he'd be able to do it in the end," Megaman said quietly. Roll looked at him strangely.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing," Megaman said quickly. Roll continued staring at him, then a smile spread across her face.

"So, you really think I'm and beautiful?" she asked coyly. Her smile grew wider as Megaman began stuttering nervously.

"Well... that is... I... you're... um..." Megaman was shushed when Roll placed a gentle finger on his lips.

"I still don't believe I beat you in the battle," she said in a hushed voice, "but you've made it up with all of this. Thank you."

She kissed him on the cheek, provoking an increase of cyber temperature in the blue navi. She giggled and cuddled up to him, and when he didn't offer any resistance, she sighed happily.

**

* * *

**

Lan and Maylu's lips were still locked as the 15-minute mark passed. However, neither was in any hurry to leave. They didn't need to, they had all they needed right there.

Maylu's picture floated carelessly onto the floor of the classroom. When it rested on the soft carpet, the creases were smoothed and the picture looked brand new. The faces of the people on the picture smiled warmly and waved as the screen faded black, signalling the end of the story.

**The End. (Duh) **

**

* * *

**

**Lord Cynic:** "And there you have it! Phew... I'm kinda beat... oh well. I hope everyone liked it. Now I can try writing a Megaman/Roll one-shot, a Golden Sun one-shot and prepare for 14/2... shudder...

Okay, time for some business. I am aware of how 'short' my fanfics seem. However, both have been over 10,000 (or at least 9000), so they're not as short as they probably could be. Nonetheless, I think my lack of chapters is the problem. With that in mind, I pose a question. How many words do you want chapters to have in the future?

**a. 1000-1500 **

_b. 1500-2000 _

**c. 2000-2500 **

_d. More than 2500 _

That'll help me in the future and hopefully please people. Okay, enjoy! Lord Cynic, logging out!"


End file.
